A retro gaming podcast for some of your retro gaming needs! Specialists in PSP and PS Vita, generalists in video gaming, lethargists in life...
It's like Christmas day here at Living La Vita Loca Podcast HQ... Imagine the smile on my face when this 20th Anniversary PSP special from Retro Gamer dropped through the letterbox!
Want to know how much we love the PSP? Check out the link in our bio for our podcast
NEW POD LIVE NOW... Episode 71: Olympic Gold (Sega Mega Drive), DecAthlete (Sega Saturn), International Track and Field (Nintendo Gameboy)
COMING UP ON THE POD THIS WEEK...
• Olympic Gold (Sega Mega Drive, 1992)
• DecAthlete (Sega Saturn/Arcade, 1996)
• International Track and Field (Gameboy Colour (1999)
and we discuss our top 5 Olympic sports to watch as we prepare for the in
APPLE PODCASTS UPDATE: We're currently experiencing issues with our latest episode (Episode 70) uploading to Apple podcasts so apologies if you usually listen to us through this method.
The podcast is available elsewhere (Spotify, Podbean, Podcast Addict, YouTube podcasts, Podcasters for Spotify etc) so please seek it out there until we can get the situation rectified.
All links are in our Linktree in our Bio.
Thanks ✌️
NEW POD LIVE NOW... Episode 70: Ninja Golf (Atari), Mario Golf (Gamecube, Switch), Everybody's Golf (Hot Shots Golf) (PSP) with
‘Golf is a good walk spoiled.’ – Mark Twain
We couldn't agree more Mr Twain so let's skip the walk and play some golf video games instead! We've got a special guest starring in our pro-am tournament this week, Paddy Gunn, host of The Swiss Football podcast and stadia social account.
- Paddy tees us off with Mario Golf: Toadstool tour (2003, Nintendo Gamecube) and Mario Golf: Super Rush (2021, Nintendo Switch)
- Fazz finds it hard to 'chip in' anything useful about Everybody's Golf 1&2 (2005, 2008 Sony PSP)
- Rich rounds off our... well... round... with a quick bump-and-chase through Ninja Golf (1990, Atari)
Finally we 'putt' our heads together to decide to ask if Golf makes a better video game than real life game?
Episode 60 to Episode 69... Can you spot your favourite game in amongst this bunch???
Not caught up yet? Link in Bio 💥
NEW POD LIVE NOW... Episode 69: Street Fighter 6, Esports, Handheld Heaven, 'Thnks fr th mmrs' (and the podcast support!)
Hi podfans!
Due to unforseen circumstances, we are subbing in a slightly shorter remote pod this week before resuming normal service next week.
We're using the break to take time to thank all of the listeners we've had so far and look forward to all of the listens yet to come. This leads Fazz tells us why he's in Handheld Heaven right now.
We also take some time to demonstrate how very little we know about Esports. Special thanks go out to for his insights into Esports and why they matter.
Finally Rich let's us know why Street Fighter 6 (PC) is appearing at both Evo and the Esports World Cup.
Because it kicks ass, that's why!
Thank you all once again for all of your support and we hope you're loving listening to the podcast as much as we love making it!
Enjoy the pod.
Handheld heaven at Living La Vita Loca HQ!
NEW POD LIVE NOW... Episode 68: Devil May Cry (PS2), Burning Rangers (Sega Saturn)
Hi podfans
Welcome to another edition of 'Freeplay Fortnightly' where we both pick a video game that we want to play and keep it secret from our co-host. We then review said game on the podcast and ask our co-host to score the game out of 10 based on our review. Simple? You bet we are!
After a little chat about backlog evasion, Rich leaps into action with the 1998 Sega Saturn action game, Burning Rangers. Is this the best 'Soniclike' (trademark pending) game you've never played?
Whilst the Burning Rangers focus on saving others from fires, Fazz chooses a protagonist who is trying to save us all from the fires of Hell itself, Dante, Son of Sparda.
In this playthrough of the HD version of the 2001 PS2 classic, Devil May Cry, Fazz comes to the conclusion that Dante might just need a hug. And won't someone save that beluga whale from a localised environmental disaster already?!
Enjoy the pod.
NEW POD LIVE NOW... Episode 67: Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (PSP), Sega Worldwide Soccer 98 (Sega Saturn), ISS Deluxe (SNES)
Ole ole ole ole...
This week on the pod, we're on the ball as we take aim at some 'soccer' games as part of a Euros/Copa America 2024 special. Last year, we gave the EA Sports FIFA series its moment in the sun but now it's time to turn our attention to few of its rivals...
First up, it's the mid 90s and Sega/Nintendo are regularly duking it out between each other in the 'Console War Conference league'. Some of the best players to represent the teams, ISS Deluxe (SNES) and Worldwide Soccer (Sega Saturn) are being asked questions ahead of the big match such as "Are you a great video game?". Let's see how they respond in tonights matchup. ISS '98 and FIFA '98 also invade the pitch for a short time too!
Fast forward to 2006 and Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (PSP) is a technical powerhouse up front but will it ever knock FIFA off its perch? Something tells me (hindsight!) it might be time to let go of one of the greatest players to have ever graced the soccer video game scene... Probably on a free transfer to 'Trad Bricks' to play alongside Ruud Von Mistelroum.
Finally we ask if you can play retro soccer games in 2024 for fun?
Enjoy the pod.
COMING UP ON THE POD... EUROS 2024 (SOCCER) SPECIAL!
• International Superstar Soccer Deluxe (SNES)
• Sega Worldwide Soccer '98 (Sega Saturn)
• Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (PSP)
NEW POD LIVE NOW... Episode 66: Night Trap/Sewer Shark (Sega CD 1992), Bloodshore/The Quarry (Xbox 2020s) & Interactive (Hi)Stories
Is it a game? Is it a movie? No... its some kind of freak show in the middle called Full Motion Video.
We were inspired to take a dive into the history of interactive FMV games by a random purchase from the Xbox store by Fazz.
Where did they come from? (Night Trap, 1992, Sega CD) (Sewer Shark, 1992, Sega CD)
Where are they now? (Bloodshore, 2021, Xbox Series S)
And what is the future of interactive gaming? Is it in photorealistic interactive storytelling (The Quarry, 2022, Xbox Series S)?
As usual, we probably don't have the definitive answers but we do answer important questions such as:
- Where does Rich rank on Fazz's list of favourite things?
- Is Rich really 'The Scatman'?
- Is the scariest part of the X Files PS1 game being 'softlocked'? The truth is out there. Or maybe it isn't... Fazz's memory card is though!
Enjoy the pod!
COMING UP ON THE POD THIS WEEK...
INTERACTIVE (HI)STORIES:
• Sewer Shark (Sega CD, 1992)
• Night Trap (Sega CD, 1992)
• Bloodshore (Xbox Series S, 2021)
• The Quarry (Xbox Series S, 2022)
NEW POD NOW LIVE... Episode 65: Lemmings (PSP), Godzilla: DAMM (GameCube), Rampage (Arcade/Master System) Brian Lara Cricket Series in 'Little, Large & Lara!'
Hi Podfans
It's the showdown that you didn't know you needed:
One of the most ported games of all time with cute suicidal protagonists.
One of the most famous cinematic characters of all time with a desire for destruction/redemption.
And Brian Lara (who Fazz reckons could take Godzilla out with a bat on a dying wicket).
Lemmings are 6cm average height.
Godzilla is upto 150m tall.
Brian Lara hit 400 not out vs England in 2004.
Who has the better video game this week? We decide.
Enjoy the pod.
Whilst we had a difference of opinions about the Katamari series on our most recent podcast (Link in Bio!), we would still give our full recommendation to trying these games out especially when they are such good value in the Nintendo eshop right now!
NEW POD LIVE NOW... Episode 64: Katamari Damacy Reroll, Me and My Katamari, Beautiful Katamari, Touch my Katamari
Keep rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin...
When Limp Bizkit released that track in 2000, we're pretty sure that they were just predicting the arrival of Katamari Damacy 4 years later...
For the uninitiated, the Katamari series consists of a small prince rolling around a sticky ball (Katamari) cleaning up a multitude of the King of All Cosmos balls(!)ups. The Prince does this by rolling up all sorts of random bits which increase in size from candy to continents It's all a bit... well... insane really.
We thought it would be useful to take a sample of the whole series across various consoles and circumnavigate them for you to let you know whether you should roll back the years on Katamari. The games in the rotation this week are:
- Katamari Damacy Reroll (Xbox One, 2020)
- Me and My Katamari (PSP, 2005)
- Beautiful Katamari (Xbox 360, 2007)
- Touch my Katamari (PS Vita, 2011)
Podfans... let's roll out!
Enjoy the pod.
COMING UP ON THE POD THIS WEEK...
• Katamari Damacy Reroll (2020, Xbox One)
• Me and My Katamari (2005, PSP)
• Beautiful Katamari (2007, Xbox 360)
• Touch my Katamari (2011, PS Vita)
NEW POD LIVE NOW... Episode 63: Driver (PS1), Driver 76' (PSP), Driver: San Francisco (Xbox 360)
Driving games... We love em here at Living La Vita Loca! So what about the well known game series that is literally titled 'Driver'? Surely there's nothing that'll put us in a spin here... right?
This week we've popped the hood on several games from the Infogrames franchise to see if they are 'wheely' good or 'ariely' bad... sorry. The games drifting into our rear view mirror are:
- Driver (PS1)
- Driver 76' (PSP)
- Driver: San Francisco (Xbox 360)
How does being the wheelman, feel, man?!?
Seriously... no spoiler(s)...
Okay w(he)e'll stop now. Sorry.
Enjoy the pod. Link in Bio.
There's been a lot of critique of on our podcast recently (some good, some bad) but is currently getting a lot of love from a certain 6 year old in Living La Vita Loca HQ!
3D platform games barely existed when we were 6 years old... 😅 Which was your first 3D platformer?
COMING UP ON THE POD THIS WEEK...
We're filling our tank up with Reflections' Driver video game series which hasn't seen a new full line release in over 13 years. Should we bring back Tanner and his various other forgettable protagonist chums?
This week take a leisurely wheelspin through the following games:
- Driver (1999, PS1)
- Driver 76 (2007, PSP)
- Driver: San Francisco (2011, Xbox 360)
NEW POD NOW LIVE... Episode 62: Portal Companion Collection (Nintendo Switch), Typing of the Dead (Windows) & Recommended Media
Hey podgoers
We've got some real abandonment issues this week...
Before we get to psychoanalysing that, we spend some time celebrating some of our favourite podcasts and YouTube content providers with effectively an IOU starter. And gravy. Thicc gravy.
Shout outs for:
Now, about those abandonment issues...
First up, Rich wiggles his worryingly strong digits in the direction of Typing of the Dead (2000, Microsoft Windows) which is available as abandonware online right now. It took a lot of brains from Sega to develop something this cool.
Mmm... Brains... brrraaaaiiinnnssss... wait is that how you spell brrraaaaiiinnnssss?!? We'd better ask the guy with the typewriter.
Next up, Fazz tackles the abandonment of a mute female protagonist who wakes up in the middle of Aperture Science facilities with no real idea what is going on. Yes, we're talking about the Portal Companion Collection (2022, Nintendo Switch).
How well ported is this Portal port to the semi portable console? Is Fazz 'GlaDOS' to have played a pair of the best reviewed games of all time?
Now where did we put that morality core down? Ooh... cake...
Enjoy the pod.
COMING UP ON THE POD THIS WEEK...
Its Freeplay Fortnightly where we both choose a game, keep our playthrough secret from each other, review it and then our cohost gives the game a score out of 10 based on said review. Simple? You bet we are.
This week...
• Fazz plays through Portal (2007) & Portal 2 (2011) in the Portal Companion Collection (Nintendo Switch)
• Rich hits up The Typing of the Dead (2000) through Abandonware (Windows)
• We give a shout out to our current recommended media. And gravy.
NEW POD LIVE NOW... Episode 61: Locoroco 2 (PSP), Sonic The Hedgehog AGAIN! (Sega Master System) & 'Sequel Samey, Sequel Lamey?'
Hi everyone and welcome to RE-living La Vita Loca... wait, hang on a minute!
Yes that's right, we're so unoriginal we're running it back on a few franchises we have hit already... but for good reason!
Firstly, we're spinning back a whole 4 episodes to dip back into the world of Sonic The Hedgehog. Just weeks after 'murdering' the Blue Blur, we're bringing him back through popular (some) demand with Rich checking out Sonic 1 & 2 AGAIN (Sega Master System this time). Will childhood memories be spiked?
Next, we head back to look at something we (sorta) reviewed over a year ago in Episode 12... Locoroco rolls back into our lives but this time we're focusing more on Locoroco 2 (PSP) and how well it holds up against the original.
Fazz famously(!) declared Locoroco as his favourite PSP game of all time giving it 10/10. This was wrongly removed from our arbitrary score rankings in Episode 41... by Fazz. Now, he wants to put some respect back on Locoroco's name. Respect he removed.... because he's an idiot.
We also discuss how 'samey' sequels should be???
Enjoy the pod.
COMING UP ON THE POD THIS WEEK...
• Locoroco 1 & 2 (PSP)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 1&2 (Sega Master System)
• The 'Best use of shoulder buttons' awards!
Review request made by 🫡
NEW POD LIVE NOW... Episode 60: Olli olli world (Nintendo Switch) and Hatoful Boyfriend (PS Vita)
Hi Podfans.
Are you ready for a hat-o-full of crazy, irreverent indie gaming kookiness? Take your pick from the following in this weeks 'Freeplay Fortnightly' episode...
• A main protagonist who is dating birds in a powerpoint format (Hatoful Boyfriend, PS Vita).
• A skating sim where aliens REALLY want you to land a hardflip on a rainbow (Olli Olli World Rad Edition, Nintendo Switch).
Which ever path you choose, we hope you struggle as much as we did to arbitrarily score these games this week!
Enjoy the pod.
#
NEW POD LIVE NOW...
COMING UP ON THE POD THIS WEEK...
Its 'Freeplay Fortnightly' once again and in a really strange twist of fate, one of these games and their developers has hit the gaming news hard this week. Can you guess which mystery games we've played this week from the images above? Look out for the podcast when it drops to find out if you're right...
Link in Bio for previous episodes.
RETROSLICE GAMING CHALLENGE FINAL RESULTS!
High Score Challenge Mode Results:
1st place 73276 points!
2nd place 17569 points
3rd place 11659 points
After setting this breathtaking score on the first day, Retro Game Den was never bothered at the top of the leaderboard during the entirety of the challenge. An amazing score. Congratulations!
180 Sec Challenge Mode Results:
1st Place 108 blocks
2nd Place 107 blocks
In a 2 horse race, the competition really heated up and over 2 weeks of battling, only 1 block separated the competitors with Living La Vita Loca podcast's Fazz, just coming out on top.
Thanks to all who took part and supported us during the challenge. If you fancy getting involved, don't forget to message Retro Slice or Retro Den for an opportunity to be involved in our retro gaming discord community!
There are some absolute bargains right now on the Xbox store if you love Lara! Why not check out Episode 49 of our podcast after spending a few hours mullering the local wildlife with your dual pistols and stealing stuff? Perfect Tuesday evening if you ask us.
Link in Bio. Lara in jail. Probably.
NEW POD LIVE NOW... Episode 59: Assassin's Creed Bloodlines (PSP), Liberation (PS Vita) and 'The Most Successful Creed Ever?!?'
Yiasoo and Bonjour podfans!
You join us as the podcast swan dives straight into Cyprus at the start 13th century and somehow ends up in French Louisiana at the rear of the 18th century through the magic of the Templar Animus.
This week we both take a 'stab' at playing the PSP and PS Vita versions of the Assassin's creed franchise, Bloodlines and Liberation.
Bloodlines (PSP) was released in 2009 as a direct sequel to the original Assassin's Creed on PS3 whilst Liberation (PS Vita) acts as a spin off to ACIII from 2012.
Do both games do enough to earn a place in the Creed or are they simply just Ab(surd)stergo? We really had to crowbar that in there.
Finally, we discuss a really important subject... What is the most successful 'Creed' ever? We probably put too much effort into this portion of the pod but I'm sure you'll invite it into your heart 'with arms wide open'...
Enjoy the pod.
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@drawnfromthemind joined us in Episode 7 to talk all about 'What makes a good gamer?' and #tekken. Link in Bio #psp #psvita #sonyplaystation #playstation #sonyhandheld #tekken5 #tekken5darkresurrection #tekken6 #streetfighterxtekken #retrogamer #retrogaming #videogamepodcast #retrogamingpodcast #videogames #playstationportable #handheldgaming
#wipeout2048 vs #wipeoutpure result from Episode 6. I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat... #psp #psvita #wipeout #retrogamer #retrogaming #videogamepodcast #videogames #retrogamingpodcast #playstationvita #playstationportable #sonyplaystation #sonyhandheld #handheldgaming
THAT #callofdutyblackops for Vita review from Episode 5... #psp #psvita #playstationvita #playstationportable #sonyplaystation #playstation #callofduty #cod #codblackops #retrogamer #retrogaming #videogamepodcast #videogames #retrogamingpodcast #retrohandheld
THAT #Sims2 PSP review... #psp #psvita #sonyplaystation #sonyhandheld #retrogamer #retrogaming #videogames #videogamepodcast #retrogamingpodcast #playstationvita #playstationportable #sims #civilizationrevolution
It's definitely Cee Eee ###. Oh wait... not '###'! This is minefield... #psp #psvita #cex #charliebrooker #blackmirror #playstationvita #playstation #handheldgaming #retrogamer #retrogaming #videogames #videogamepodcast #retrogamingpodcast #rockband #rockbandunplugged #papersplease
#psp #psvita #retrogamer #retrogaming #retrogamingpodcast #videogamepodcast #handheldgaming #playstationvita #Uncharted #unchartedgoldenabyss
#howitstarted #psp #psvita #sonyhandheld #sonyplaystation #playstationportable #playstation #retrogamer #retrogamingpodcast #retrogaming #videogamepodcast #videogames
#psp #psvita #Sony #sonyplaystation #playstationportable #playstationvita #playstation #handheldgaming #retrogamer #retrogaming #retrovideogames #retrogamingpodcast #videogamepodcast #videogames
#speedrun #sonic2 #emeraldhill #retrogamer #retrogaming #retrogamingpodcast
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